


prom queen

by bitchasslowry



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Women In The NHL, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28991736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchasslowry/pseuds/bitchasslowry
Summary: ORIGINALLY POSTED TO TUMBLR ON JANUARY 18TH 20204 times Mitch and you were almost a thing and 1 time you two were.
Relationships: Mitch Marner/Reader
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is a reader insert fic being transferred from tumblr. if it’s not your thing, i won’t be hurt if you leave. 
> 
> inspired by prom queen by beach bunny

“Oh you mother fucker!” you growled after being shoved and held to the boards. You were smaller than the rest, that’s for sure. Sure you were built, but playing hockey against jacked, 6’5, grown men wasn’t exactly an easy task, nor will it ever be. But fuck it, you were making history. 

In 2019 you became the first ever female to be drafted into the NHL as a winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Of course though, it was quite the journey to get where you are now. Back when you were 16 years old, a contract was signed that any junior professional hockey league that was previously all men would be able to draft women into the teams if they so desired. You just happened to be one woman that showed exceptional talent in the eyes of the OHL.

At the age of 17 you were selected by the Kingston Frontenacs to play for them as a left wing. With a number 42 on your back and probably the biggest smile you’ve ever mustered on your face, you skated out onto the ice for the first time in the K-Rock Centre. For the next three years, 1 Tragically Hip Way was your home. Walks along Breakwater Park and lunch down at Morrison’s in the square were regular occurrences for you, but soon that would be changed. City Hall changed to the CN Tower and the Holiday Inn on Ontario Street became the Delta Hotel. 

Toronto, Ontario. You’re new home. 

It was a shock to the world, you guess. Fourth overall pick right after Kirby Dach going to the Hawks, 

“The Toronto Maple Leafs are proud to announce that they will be the first ever NHL team to draft a female player, forward Y/N L/N.”

You had bought a new suit for the draft but god had you felt like you were going to sweat right through it. Soon enough though, your gold and black #42 jersey was exchanged for a blue and white #25. It was almost surreal to see your last name printed on the back of the jersey. Your jersey. 

Now you were here, on the team. And god the media was a bitch.

1\. The Room Where It Happened 

Willy was laying down on his own bed while you clicked through the channels on the hotel tv, occasionally popping a baby carrot into your mouth. It seemed to be routine at this point on road trips with the team. You and the eldest Nylander brother had been rooming together since the beginning of the season, despite the worries of management about you and the whole ‘first female in the NHL’ deal. You and the Swede got along swimmingly in training camp, so here you were. 

“I’m bored,” he groaned as he flipped around so he was looking at you upside down.

“Willy, when aren’t you bored. This is becoming an issue for you.”

“Shut the fuck up, short stack. I’m texting the boys.”

You simply rolled your eyes at the nickname and settled on a re-run episode of The Andy Griffith Show. “Slow down there, Nylander. I’m only two inches shorter than you. I can still kick your ass.”

He flipped you off right before tossing his phone to the side, rolling over and stealing a carrot. 

“Fucker.”

“Look decent. Your man is coming over with Mo,” Will said and winked at you before throwing on a hoodie. 

You followed suit in shuffling off your bed but ended up purposefully kicking Willy in the calf. “How many times do I have to tell you to thoroughly fuck off?”

Will just shot you a sickeningly sweet smile before ducking into the bathroom. Promptly you heard a knock on your hotel room door. As you tugged the door open, you were greeted with a mess of limbs pushing you aside.

“I can’t keep up with Auston, holy shit.” Mitch groaned and made himself at home on your bed.

“Move your ass to the side, Mitchell.” He did as he was told and moved over enough for you to sit up against the headboard beside him. After you got settled, you felt Mitch place his head on your right thigh and he slightly snuggled up against you. 

“Don’t call me that,” he mumbled into your sweatpants and you laughed a bit. “But Auston is being annoying and keeps asking me about girls that ask me about him. Shoot me. It would be less painful.”

Mitch had a similar outfit to yours on; a pair of sweatpants and an old Toronto Marlies t-shirt that he still had. You eyes flicked over the tv while your hand absentmindedly began to play with some of the hair behind his ear.

“Get a room, jesus,” William groaned when he came back out of the bathroom. He started rummaging around the chair by his bed for the water bottle he threw on it when you both got into the room. 

Mitch make a small groaning noise and sat up. He moved back to lean his own back on the headboard just like you were doing. Willy came out victorious with his water but also his wallet. “I’m going to attempt to find coffee somewhere so, um, do you guys want your usual?”

“Yeah buddy. Tim Hortons is right across the street from here I think,” you responded and pulled out a five from your own wallet that was sitting on the nightstand. Willy waved you off, tugged on his shoes and promptly left. The tv had kicked over to Good Times but Mitch seemed to be a little spaced out, looking at the heater on the other side of the room.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Mitchy.”

He just shrugged his shoulders, but you knew better than that about him. You may have only known him for a little bit of time, but it was long enough to know that this was his ‘I saw something that upsets me but I don’t want to tell anyone’ face. 

“Come on. I know something’s up,” you said turning to face him. He sighed and met your gaze on him. It was so out of character for him not to be smiling all the time, so I just looked like he was about to cry when he wasn’t. And that exactly what he looked like now. 

“You don’t think that I’m annoying, do you?”

You were sort of taken aback by his words and tilted your head a bit. 

“What? Mitch, no, I don’t think you’re annoying. You and Auston are like, my best friends at this point. Remember what Ron McLean said, yeah? The Fiesta Trio?”

That seemed to make Mitch smile. “I still can’t believe he compared us to a bunch of bugs on Dora the Explorer.” You laughed with him but then questioned him a bit more. 

“Why would you think you’re annoying?”

“I don’t know... I just saw something on Twitter of someone saying how they don’t know how you and Auston can stand me all the time... that I’m like, too hyper or something.”

“Well the media sucks ass, Mitchy,” you tell him, swinging your legs over his own. “They think that I’m only on the team to sleep with you guys so they really like to pull shit out of their ass. Don’t worry about it. Aus and I love you all the same, human puppy or not.”

And then he didn’t worry about it. 

2\. The Kids Are Alright

You didn’t want to be dramatic, but good lord you never wanted for pregame practice to be over sooner. You were stretching on the ice of the United Centre when you felt a little tap on your shoulder. You popped up and turned around to find a smiling Jonathan Toews gliding behind you. 

“How are you liking the NHL so far, L/N?”

Him and Dylan Strome had become your first friends in professional hockey. In a way, Jonny was sort of your mentor before you went pro, and Dylan sent you a text before your first NHL game wishing you luck. You two still talked frequently and video chatted when Mitch was around too so they could talk.

And now here you were playing against them on their home ice. 

“Eh, not too bad. It’d be better if I didn’t have that giving me dirty looks everywhere I go,” you laughed a little and jabbed a finger over to the group of women all dolled up in the fifth row back. “The kids up in the 300’s would kill for those seats. But nope, it’s taken by girls looking at your ass, Jonny.”

“Hey, the only person that can look at his ass is me!” Another voice said from behind you.

“You tell ‘em, Pat,” you replied smiling before skating off in Freddie’s direction. You could tell that people were giving you and Jonathan odd looks for the teams mingling during warm ups, but quite frankly you didn’t care.

You circled around the net once before taking a few practice shots and laps around your half of the rink. Soon enough Mitch and Auston were skating up to you and pushing you between them with their shoulders. 

“Boys, cool it. I’m not a pinball,” you joked and taking a shove at Auston, which moved him all of two inches. “What the fuck, Matthews. Are you made out of bricks?”

“Maybe so...” he lead on before taking his own few shots on net. Your gaze wandered back to the group of girls behind the net, still at those five rows up. You say group, but you really mean three. Makeup done way too nice for a game, tits out and not a single article of Leafs or Hawks merchandise to be seen on them. They stuck out like sore thumbs in the sea of white, blue and red. Exactly what they wanted. 

Mitch was standing next to you and you could tell they were eyeing him up from their seats. One of them caught your gaze and sent you a death glare. You simply smirked and skated over to a little girl that had been staring at you for the entirety of warm up and tossed her a puck. Despite it being your first year, she somehow still had your jersey on which made you heart melt a little. Mitch saw the interaction between you and the little girl, her putting a hand up to the glass and you matching it with your own gloved one. 

That, he thinks, is the moment that he fell in love with you. 

He took a glance at one of the girls in row five and one of them flipped a piece of hair over their shoulder. He sighs and skates over to Auston. 

3\. One For the Money, Two Because She Likes Hockey

god is y/n l/n is really that desperate for attention that she basically forces matthews and marner to hang out with her... this is why we don’t have women in the nhl people

“Hey Aus? You wanna beat up someone for me?” you asked, tilting your head in his direction. 

Auston furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and put his phone down for a second. “Uh, why?”

“Why can’t I be the one to beat someone up!” Mitch pouted and puffed up his chest a little bit. You laughed a little and leaned over to him, ruffling his hair. “I’m not a little kid!”

“You’re like... 12, Mitchy,” Auston replied, also laughing. Mitch smirked and grabbed you by the waist, dragging you over to his side of his bed and began poking at your sides. While you were trying to squirm away from him, Willy walked through the hotel room door and simply sighed when he saw you and Mitch back up to your antics. 

“Ah, young love... am I right, Aus?”

“I’m literally the same age as him,” Auston said raising his eyebrows and gesturing over to Mitch. 

You eventually got out of Mitch’s grasp and sauntered over to where your water bottle was sitting on the tv stand. “But you look, like, 40 with that moustache so...”

“This is bullying.”

“Cry me a river, Matthews,” you quipped back taking a sip.

William looked between all three of you and just shook his head in a bit of friendly disappointment. Suddenly he understood why JT was in constant need of a nap. 

“Does this whole conversation have anything to do with the fact that the league won’t let us room together anymore?” Willy asked, his blonde hair, a little damp and fresh from the shower, flopping in front of his face.

You sighed audibly and capped your water. “Yeah well there’s been a lot going around about me recently.”

It’s not like you were lying about it. Your name was a pretty well known one, even though it was only your rookie year. Being the only female in an all boys club wasn’t always accepting. Most of the rumours about you made you laugh, quite frankly. The one about you and Auston hooking up was probably you and the team’s favourite to make fun of. How dare you have male friends and not want to suck their dick. 

But admittedly it was getting worse. It was beyond people just being uncomfortable with a chick being able and willing to fight Ryan Reaves. Now, people and ‘fans’ wanted you kicked off the team and even out of the league. 

“You’re not going anywhere, Y/N. If they want you gone, then so am I. You’re one the best fucking wingers I’ve ever played with and they’d be stupid to give you up,” Mitch mumbled sort of to himself but also you, who was back sitting next to the brunette.

You smiled slightly at him and pulled the sleeves of your sweater down around your hands. You glanced over at the bedside clock radio and realized the time.

“You know what, I’m gonna head to bed so uh, goodnight everyone.” You got up and the boys all mumbled goodnight to you as you left. 

Around halfway down the hall on your way to the elevator you heard a doer open and close behind you as well as muffled footsteps. Spinning around you realized that it was just Mitch who was catching up to you. 

“I’ll walk you back to your room,” he said, still smiling. 

God he’s pretty. 

There. You said it. Mitch Marner is pretty and has zero right to look like that. Any woman with eyes in the entirety of Southern Ontario, even Canada, could see that. Your friend Ava was the first one to show you who exactly he was. During his rookie year when you were still playing for the Frontenacs she had told you that some people had compared you as a female version of him in reference to his play style.

Now come to think of it, you probably played against him in the OHL.

At the time you had zero time what that meant. But here you were, inviting Mitch into your room to watch Airport that has been playing on repeat all day at the hotel. He gladly accepted and soon enough he was setting up camp on your bed. 

“I’m just going to go get changed alright?” You said and he nodded, pulling back the duvet. You slipped into the bathroom with some pj’s and took a deep breath. Holy fuck, Y/N. Calm down. What’s your damage?

Mitch Marner was your damage. Him and his stupid fucking smile and sweet personality and literally everything about him made you soft. 

And Y/N L/N was not soft. You were a goon in the OHL and after a while, all of the guys just learned not to fuck with you, simple as that. Back then if you ever told yourself that you would be starting at yourself in the bathroom mirror, trying to figure out your emotions and feelings for one of your best friends, you would have laughed and promptly right hooked yourself. 

But people change, clearly. 

After pulling on your sleep shorts and an old t-shirt for bed, you walked out and you found Mitch snuggled in your bed, watching Dean Martin on the tv walk into the cockpit of the plane. He shot you another smile and moved just a bit so that you could also get in under the collection of blankets, sheets and the duvet.

You both shifted around until you ended up tucked under Mitch’s right arm with your head resting on his shoulder. About halfway through the movie, you heard him clear his throat.

“Just so you know, all those people on social media are wrong. You don’t force me and Matts to hang out with you. You’re one of my best friends... I hope you know that,” he mumbled sort of into your hair. You had been unknowingly tracing the tattoos on Mitch’s right forearm. Despite people always making fun of his tattoos, you had always liked them. You had your own half sleeve on your left arm, with the true unity symbol in the centre of a bunch of flowers; one for each member of your family that meant a lot to you. 

It was dark and you were looking away from Mitch so he didn’t have the chance to see or feel your face heat up. The tracing on his arm had stopped for a second before you continued. Within your sort of hazy, sleep deprived state, words just tumbled out of your mouth. 

“I just like playing hockey, but people don’t realize that. Well... I like playing hockey with you the most. I don’t know what I would do without you, Marns.”

You could almost feel the huge smile forming on his face but you were too tired to bother asking further about it. Snuggling closer to him, you drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

And if by some chance Mitch gave you a kiss on your temple before he too fell asleep, no one would ever know. 

4\. Everybody Loves Auston

Who knew Mitch would be confiding in Will and Kappy about his shitty love life. A majority of the team were all hanging out a bar the evening after a big win against the Islanders, yet somehow you were dragged along with the WAGs to do god knows what. Everything they were talking to you about was nothing new. But your favourite always comes up at post-game celebrations. 

Why do you always dress like that to these?

You’ll be the first one to admit, wearing a suit isn’t exactly what everyone expects you to be doing. But this is the NHL. You look nice before games. And there’s not a fucking chance you’re going to show up in some dress and heels. 

So I guess here you were, loosening the grey plaid tie that was secured around your neck and shrugging off the navy blue suit jacket from your shoulders. You listened to the girls all talking about mindless shit that quite frankly you didn’t care about. God, where’s the boys?

It seems that the answer to your question varied. Morgan and Tyson were both sitting at a table by themselves, both sipping away slowly at whatever they ordered. Over at the end of the bar was Auston, somehow succeeding in wooing yet another tiny blonde who was giggling at something he said. You never understood it to be completely honest. All of the women at the table with you right now looked the same, yet here you were, all muscle and taller than the average bear. Definitely not whatever they were.

But moving on, as we'll call her Barbie, was still giggling, you saw Kappy and Will on either side of the very distinct head of fluffy brown hair that was none other than Mitch Marner. Bingo.

You grabbed your suit jacket and trotted yourself over to them and sitting yourself on a stool beside Kasperi. 

“Corona, please,” you asked the bartender, a young guy clearly in university. He nodded and got to work. You spun yourself a little to face the boys and that’s when you noticed Mitch’s face that was completely red. Will was attempting to suppress a laugh but seemed to be failing miserably. You could tell Kappy was a little drunk when he threw an arm over your shoulder and said,

“There’s the woman of the hour! Two goals tonight, Y/N/N! I feel like a proud dad.”

“Jesus, Kap. How many have you had tonight?” you chuckled and raised your eyebrows at him. He simply shrugged his shoulders and takes a sip of some red cocktail he had. 

Just past him you saw Will sort of lean on the bar and look at you. “Pretty damn close to a hat trick... what are ya gonna do when you get one?”

“If I get one, you mean,” you tipped your beer his way before taking a long and drawn out swing while glancing up at the 11 o’clock news that was playing. 

As the night went on and all of the boys got thoroughly more and more plastered. By the end of the night it was really only you, Morgan and JT that weren’t drunk. Sure you were feeling pretty good but there was no way you were drunk enough to deal with any of what’s going on around you. Willy has taken Kasperi home quite a while ago since he was nearly blackout drunk by midnight, Tyson got tired and decided to turn himself in for the evening and Auston had left around ten minutes ago with that one girl he was talking to earlier that night.

That left you and MItch together by yourselves at the bar. You were on your third beer but it really wasn’t affecting you that much. Mitch was more that just feeling good. As soon as he told you that he was in the mood to go do something “crazy”, you called it quits for the two of you. Saying a quick goodbye to the remaining guys you dragged Mitch out of the bar and began walking down the streets of Toronto. 

The city never really did sleep, but the sidewalks were a lot more quiet than they usually were in the late evening. You hailed a taxi down and shoved Mitch in the back before sliding in yourself. As soon as you told the driver your address and he began weaving down the streets, Mitch decided to reach out and touch you on the head.

“Mitch, what the fuck?” you asked looking back and forth from his arm to his face which looked in awe.

“Your hair is so soft! How do you do that?” He asked, completely fascinated with spinning strands of your hair through his fingers.

You sort of laughed at him and shook your head. “I showered after the game, dumbass. I use conditioner.”

“Well, it looks and feels very pretty.” You send him a quick thanks while still laughing. It was another few minutes of Mitch asking you stupid quetions along with him getting distracted by the Toronto city lights before the cab driver finally pulled up in front of your apartment building.

You thanked him and tipped him generously for having to put up with Mitch for the ten minutes you were in the car, which he chuckled at and told you both to have a great night. 

Getting Mitch up the elevator was another story though. The short and condensed version of it would be that you practically had to hold down his arms so that he didn’t recreate that one scene in Elf where he pressed all the buttons to all the floors. Luckily you succeeded.

You finally got him in your apartment where he immediately flopped down on your couch.

“Don’t you dare fall asleep on me, Marner. You aren’t going to bed in your suit.” Mitch just grumbled and you went to your room to change and get him something to wear. You managed to find a pair of his sweatpants that he accidently left at your apartment last time he was over with Auston to play CoD or something along those lines. 

You walked back out now dressed in your own comfy pants/t-shirt combo and tossed Mitch’s sweats and one of your Leafs hoodies that you knew would fit him at the Mitch shaped lump on your couch.

“Come on. You have the get dressed, then you can do whatever.” He grumbled again and slowly stood up, but nearly fell over. 

It took about ten minutes of attempting to help Mitch figure out how a belt works along with unbuttoning his shirt for him, because you are slowly learning that drunk Mitch is sort of incompetent. You finally had him sitting cross legged in your living room watching episodes of Four Weddings very intently. 

From your kitchen island where you were grabbing some water for the two of you, you saw Mitch tuck back into your sweater and pull the sleeves over his hands. 

You smiled softly to yourself and for a couple seconds just marveled at him. His hair was growing pretty long so he had quite the flow going right now. For as long as you knew Mitch, he always enjoyed when you played with his hair even though you constantly got teased for it by the guys. Currently, the soft lighting from the tv along with the city lights outside your window illuminated his whole body, making the red flush on his cheeks more prominent and his hair look even softer. 

He was staring at the tv with his mouth hanging open, eyes wide. You shook yourself out of whatever daze you were in and brought the cups of water into your living room.

“Here. Drink this,” you explained to Mitch and he took the glass in silence. It was a little bit of time with him just sipping tentatively at his water before asking you a question.

“Do you think Auston will ever get married?” You laughed and turned to him just to find Mitch’s eyes burning into the side of your head. You simply shrugged and scooched closer to him. 

“I don’t know, Mitch. Why do you ask?”

He sighs, almost sadly. “He always has girls talking to him. Like, all the time, no matter where we go. He’s gotta pick one, right?”

You watched Mitch’s face fall into a pout. “Well, Mitch, maybe he will settle down. Who knows.”

“Why aren’t girls like that with me? What’s wrong with me?”

Your eyes went wide for a second before reaching out and adjusting one of the strings on his, well actually your, hoodie. “Um-“

“Actually screw that, why wouldn’t Auston choose someone like you? You- you’re fucking perfect. And you’re with him and I all the time! I think he’s blind.”

Sitting in shock, you just kept listening to Mitch’s rant. 

“You’re gorgeous but like, so nice at the same time. Usually they don’t go together, but I don’t know, the stars were aligned or some shit with you. Oh! And you’re amazing at hockey! Like what the actual fuck! Do you know how hot you are when you play?”

A silence fell over the room after Mitch finished with his alcohol induced soliloquy while bouncing up and down on your couch doing wild hand gestures. 

To make sure you don’t absolutely go insane, you tried to diffuse the situation and laugh it off followed by you saying, “What, do you get off on my celly, Marner?”

When he replied with a small sometimes, you knew you were thoroughly fucked. 

+1. They’ll Fall In Love and Here’s The Bottom Line…

Were you currently shitting your pants? Of course you were. You and the boys were around an hour out from playing the Bruins and you were trying to pump yourself up for it. You were currently sitting in your stall, getting your gear on and looking around the locker room at the rest of the boys.

Zach was bopping along to some of the music that was flowing through the room while you laughed a bit at him. Mitch, who was beside you, did the same.

Mitch still wasn’t fully aware of what he said to you that one drunken night. When he woke up the next morning in your apartment with a wicked headache you only told him the bare minimum of what he said. The less he knew, the better.

Soon enough though, the team was walking down the tunnel and skating out onto the ice. One anthem later and you were off. You all played hard for the first period along with you getting chirped way more than you would like. After a particularly deep jab to you, you slammed Marchand into the board and that shut them up pretty quickly.

The period ended with 1-1, McAvoy scoring one for the Bruins and Will soaring one through the five hole to tie it up and also awarding you an assist.

Back in the locker room when you were retying your hair, Willy gave you a pat on the shoulder, congratulating and thanking you. But your performance was only just starting.

In the second period you managed to score two goals back to back. One of them on a breakaway and then top shelf but then the second was just a tip in beside the left skate of Halak. By the end of the second you were up 3-2.

But the third period made you want to cry. Mitch got a goal with Matts getting an assist, but then all hell broke loose and Boston came back strong, scoring 3. Your breathing was heavy and you were sweating hard on the bench.

By some miracle of the hockey gods above, Kerfoot ties the game up 4-4 in the last minute of the third. And just like that you were going into OT. 

It was intense to say the least. Everyone was fighting hard for the puck and somehow you won. It all happened nearly in slow motion. The puck got banked up on the boards and you were stick handling it down the ice to take a slap shot. You watched as it flew over the right shoulder of Halak and then bounce off the inside of the crossbar, just to fall into the back of the net.

You didn’t realize what had happened until you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist and you were getting spun around. The whole team was around you celebrating like you had just won the Stanley Cup and Auston had the largest smile on his face you had ever seen. 

The mystery of who had picked you up was solved when you got put down and Mitch came out around from behind you. You had multiple members of the team all patting you on the shoulders and bonking you on the head, but currently you were only focused on Mitch. The two of you were just staring at each other intently, not paying attention to the whole area of people cheering for you along with the hats cascading down onto the ice.

“Are you two going to eye-fuck each other all night or are we going to celebrate in the locker room?” Auston asked and gestures towards the tunnel. You roll your eyes but follow him anyways. One last wave to the crowd and you were gone.

-

Quite frankly you were exhausted after the game, so you made the decision to skip the bars that evening and just go home, curl up on your couch,crack open one of your own beers and put on an episode of Hill Street Blues you had PVR’d. You were half a Corona down and comfortable in leggings and an oversized t-shirt when you heard a knock at your door.

Reluctantly you got up and padded over to your front door, unlocking it. You were sort of shocked to find Mitch standing there sort of panting with flakes of snow resting on top of his head.

“Mitch what are you-”

“I’m like, in love with you and I finally realized that tonight.”

You stepped back a little bit and Mitch walked himself into your apartment, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you drunk?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t had anything. Auston told me to finally grow a pair and do this and I think he’s right. I’ve been in love with you since the start of the season which for the record was when I was totally starstruck because I had dreamed of meeting you in the OHL. You’re so badass it actually hurts me, but then I met you in person and realized how fucking pretty you are and then your hockey skills-”

“Mitch I-”

“And tonight with your hat trick was so fucking awesome I wanted to kiss you right there on the ice in front of the whole area. I want to gloat to everyone when you get a goal that that’s my girlfriend out there.”

You blinked up at him, not able to form words for a while. As soon as his face faltered into a frown you realized that you hadn’t responded to him admitting that he’s been in love with you for like a year.

“Mitch?”

“Yeah?

“Kiss me.”

Mitch surged forward and placed his hands on your waist, dipping his head down and pressing his lips to yours. Your hands slid up his chest and around his neck, one hand weaving into his hair as one of his hands found its way up the back of your shirt.

Both of your lips moved in perfect sync, it felt surreal. Eventually though, you had to pull apart so that you could both breathe. Mitch was panting pretty hard and you could feel the hot air on your face. His lips were pretty red and swollen but you couldn’t help but feel a little proud that you had done that.

“You seriously don’t know how long I’ve waited to do that,” you beamed at him, fingers still carding through his hair. “And I seriously wouldn’t mind doing it a lot more.”

The two of you smiled at each other and Mitch leaned in one more time, a mess of limbs starting to stumble back towards your bedroom.

And it just so happens that around midnight on the other side of the downtown core of Toronto, Auston gets a text message to the group chat with Mitch and you.

Y/N: Aus… I owe you one

Mitch: Damn right you do


	2. Chapter 2

1\. Sweater Weather

While you were making eggs at the stove, Mitch slid up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, softly placing us head on your shoulder. 

It had been about a month since you and Mitch have officially started to see each other, if you will. Nothing had changed between the two of you other than the fact that Mitch physically could not stop showing affection. But in turn, neither could you. That’s how you always found him now when you spent the night and got up early; sliding his arms around your middle and nuzzling himself into the crook of your neck.

Today you decided to have some of the guys over to just chill and eat some food before taking a trip to Florida that night to play the Panthers in a few days. So here you were, still in Mitch’s shirt at 11am making food. 

“Need anything?” you smiled and turned your head a bit, pressing a little kiss against the hair behind his ear. Mitch hummed, content with your actions but shook his head. 

“Nope. You’re just warm and I can’t get back to sleep without you with me, so here I am.” Your heart melted a little bit at his statement as you shuffled around the eggs in the pan a bit more.

The two of you ended up staying like that while you finished making breakfast; Mitch playing with the bottom of your shirt and nearly falling asleep on your shoulder. It was a quiet morning, which is what you liked, especially when sooner or later you’ll have a bunch of loud guys in your apartment yelling at each other playing chel. 

Morgan, Auston, Freddie, Kappy and Zach were all planning on showing up at 2pm with the possibility of Willy and Tys coming by later. With that being said, you loved having them over since they were certainly entertaining. You were about to call a local pizza place to order when Mitch stopped in the middle of your living room and muttered to himself. 

“Shit.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“How do we explain the reason I’m here? Like, I know Auston knows we’re together because neither of us could keep that from him, but the other guys don’t know.”

With a shrug of your shoulders you reached for your phone that was on your coffee table. “I don’t know, just… say that you got here early?”

Mitch nodded his head while you opened up an app to order a horrendous amount of food the group that evening. A few clicks later and you realized that you should probably get dressed. Mitch was already in a pair of jeans and a hoodie but you were yet to be presentable.

While you were changing in your room, you heard the door open and some low chatter from the kitchen which was undoubtedly Freddie. Once ready, you went out to greet him and get yourself a drink. 

The three of you chatted for a while until Freddie said something that made you and Mitch freeze. 

“Hey, Marns, don’t you own your own clothes?” he said laughing a bit. Mitch tilted his head in confusion before Freddie pointed at his sweater. 

“Last time I checked, you weren’t number 25.”

Fuck. 

Mitch has accidentally put on your sweater and not his own that morning while getting ready. It was an honest mistake but it looked really suspicious to others. 

“Oh, uh, ha… I was a little cold from the walk here so Y/N let me borrow this,” Mitch explained, attempting to make up a lie. Freddie seemed to believe it and sipped at his beer. 

Mitch looked over his shoulder at you with wide eyes. You shook your head and mouthed dumbass at him while smiling. 

\- 

2\. Hey Now, You’re an All Star

It was surreal for you, skating out onto the ice in St. Louis after hearing your name be called and standing beside you boyfriend, tapping his shin with your stick. He laughed and did the same thing back to you a few times while you got smiles from a whole bunch of the other guys already out on the ice.

This year at the All Star game they would be combining all females and males in the same competitions meaning that you would be allowed to compete against some of your friends in the fastest skater event while Mitch would be partaking in the new Shooting Stars segment of the evening.

A whole bunch of you were sitting on the benches and on the ground as the hardest shooter competition was taking place. Freddie was off chatting with a few other goalies while you and Mitch were playing around with Kris Letang’s son, Alexander.

Mitch was sitting with his legs spread out so he could catch the puck and you were making sure Alexander didn’t fall down by holding his little jersey in your hand. As you were smiling at Mitch’s reaction to Alex shooting the puck particularly hard at him, you felt a little nudge beside you.

You turned to find one of your good friends, Travis Konecny, sliding up beside you on the bench. No one was really paying attention to the two of you so TK took it upon himself to start a conversation.

“I see the way you look at him,” he started and calmly gestured over to Mitch. Your face immediately flared up and got hot and you adjusted around your jersey at its hem with your free hand.

“I don’t understand, Teeks.”

Travis rolled his eyes a bit and grinned wide. “The way you look at Mitch. Like he hung the fucking sun or something. Which I’m not even sure why you would think that because I’ve seen Mitch try to hang things up and he almost falls, like, every time.” The two of you laugh together which gets a look from Mitch. It was only for a second and you didn’t notice it, but he felt a small pang of jealousy when he saw you laughing with TK.

“I mean… is it that obvious?” You asked Travis, sort of worried that you and your boyfriend have blown your cover about being in a relationship. Travis shrugged his shoulders a little before answering.

“I really only noticed because Patty pointed out how close of friends you two are. And not like old married couple friends like everyone says Nolan and I are. The more I saw you interact with each other the more I noticed you two being all cute with each other. It's fucking disgusting,” he teased and you gave him a slight shove, almost knocking him off the bench.

You gave one more glance at Mitch and nodded your head. You felt comfortable talking to Travis about this sort of thing since you had come to him with this sort of problem before. You met over Instagram when you DM’d him about some ad the two of you were doing together for Hockey Is For Everyone and it just spiraled from there. He admired you for being the first female in the NHL and it didn’t help that the OHL had compared your fire for the game to his.

Now here you were trying to figure out how in god's name he and his partner in crime clued in about the secret relationship that you and Mitch had going on for almost a whole season. “I love him, Trav. But I’m just scared about the backlash we might get if we go public, ya know? I’ve had Leafs fans come up to me and say that I shouldn’t be on the team, but they love Mitch. I just don’t know what to do.”

“You said you love him, right?”

You nodded quite aggressively.

“Then it shouldn’t matter what other people think. Look, me and Pat won’t say anything alright? But if you need us for moral support on anything, you know where to find us,” TK explained getting up, patting you on the shoulder and making his way over to chat with Nico. 

Alexander was still passing a puck with Mitch when you started paying attention to them again but Mitch was clearly a little bit upset about something. 

You didn’t find out what exactly that was until later that evening back at the hotel you were staying at. 

It was a successful day at the skill competition, you placing right ahead of Travis in the fastest skater competition and Mitch nearly beating Kaner in the Shooting Stars event. To celebrate, you picked up a small treat for you and Mitch by making due with the 7-11 down the road from your hotel. The trainers never needed to know.

One bag of Twizzlers and one bag of Cheetos later, you were knocking on your boyfriend's hotel room door. Of course he let you in, but he could only sulk for so long before questioning him. 

“Mitch, baby, are you okay? You’ve been acting weird since the skills competition today,” you stated, chewing on a vine of red licorice. 

Mitch shrugged and played around with the Cheetos bag. “I don’t know, maybe you should ask Konecny.”

By the turn of his lips, you could tell Mitch was pouting. You knew him like the back of your hand and you knew for a fact that he wasn’t actually mad, but rather that he felt like he wasn’t good enough for you at the moment. 

You smiled softly and moved yourself closer to him, swinging a leg over top of his lap so you were sitting on his thighs. There was nothing sexual about it, but it was almost comforting. 

“Babe, TK was just talking to me about you and how fucking whipped I am for you.” Mitch cocked his head in confusion and placed his hands on your waist. “Apparently, Nols was the first person to figure out that we’ve been keeping a secret relationship under wraps for months. Didn’t think he had it in him though.”

You saw Mitch’s body visibly relax and he wrapped his arms all the way around your waist, pulling you in close to him. 

“I love you,” he mumbled into your shoulder. A smile spread onto your face as you weaved your hands into his soft hair. 

“I love you too, Mitch.”

-

You were sat next to Mitch during the start of the All Star Game on the bench to which TK winked at you for. 

It was great being able to play with a bunch of your friends that you most likely wouldn’t have in other circumstances. And an added bonus was getting two goals.

After you buried the second one in the back of the net, Mitch skated over to you and brought you into a side hug along with the rest of your line. The group of you all switched out and your boyfriend planted himself next to you on the bench while also grabbing his water bottle in the process.

Just as you were about to reach for yours, you felt Mitch swoop in underneath your helmet and place a small kiss on your jaw. You looked over at him with a shocked expression and wide eyes.

He had just kissed you. In front of a stadium filled with Blues fans. And everyone watching live on television.

Fuck.

Sure, the cameras may not have been on you and maybe it wasn’t actually a kiss, but it was still a lot more than anything that you two had ever done in public before. People had their suspicions of course, just like they have with you and Auston, but you have never confirmed or denied anything out of privacy.

Now Mitch was making that a lot harder than before. You slapped him in the chest lightly, obviously not that mad. He just smiled and squirted you with some water and continued to chew on his mouthguard. 

-

3\. Behind Closed Doors

You sat down in your stall and huffed, tossing your helmet off. The boys and you scraped together a pretty big win against Detroit during your second last regular season game. Now in a couple days you would be playing Montreal and you had to stay focused on the task at hand which was making playoffs.

After taking most of your gear off and shoving it in your stall, you grabbed the suit you came to the game in and wandered off to the separate shower that you used all the time, away from the guys. You always took a little extra time to yourself after games while you showered. Don’t get me wrong, you loved hanging out and talking to the team, but sometimes they got a little exhausting. 

And now with the added factor of everyone questioning you and Mitch since the All-Star game from your accidental display of affection, you felt as though avoiding them all for a while would be the best after games. You had just finished up with media for the game and your head was about to explode with all of the questions about Mitch and his not-so-sneaky kiss he gave you halfway through the All Star game.

“Can’t you just give your friends a platonic kiss on the cheek after they scored? Look, I don’t want to be in a relationship with Freddie but I somehow manage to smooch his helmet after every game,” you explained to which a couple of them chuckled in understanding.

It was a close call, but you had gotten quite good at getting yourself out of those sorts of situations. Now you were slipping out of the bathroom and shrugging your suit jacket on, making your way back to the dressing room. 

When you finally got in there, you noticed that everyone was gone except for Mitch who was scrolling through his phone, very noticeably still wet from the shower. He looked up from the screen to see you leaning against the doorway just admiring him.

As soon as he took a look at you, his lips turned up into a smirk. He gave a once over at your appearance and nodded to himself.

“You look ridiculously hot right now, I hope you know that,” he pointed out while getting up and slowly walking over towards you.

You took a look down at the current state of your outfit and sort of shrugged. You had your dress shoes on of course along with your grey plaid dress pants, your white button up shirt was undone a little bit at the top and a matching suit jacket was hanging onto your shoulders. Your tie was discarded and shoved into your pants pocket and your hair was still damp from the shower you had just taken.

“I look like an unmade bed if I’m being honest,” you said laughing and meeting Mitch halfway across the room. As soon as you got to each other he put his hands on your waist and pulled you in close.

“Still… it’s hot.”

Just as you were about to protest, Mitch attached his lips to yours and tightened his grip on your dress shirt. You hands ended up wandering towards his hair, just as they always do, and when you bit down on his lip a little bit he let out a high pitched whining sound.

To make a long story short, you ended up being pressed against your stall with your suit jacket discarded and your shirt slowly getting there too. Mitch was mouthing at your neck and collarbone when you heard the door to the locker room start to open. Out of panic you pushed him off you and began buttoning up your shirt completely turned around from seeing who was about to get a load of what exactly you and Mitch were doing,

“You idiots are lucky I decided to come in here and not Zach,” you heard the voice of the person say. Auston, thank fuck.

You let out a sigh and promptly took a roll of tape you had sitting on the shelf and chucking it at Auston. It ended up hitting him in the head to which he grunted at.

“What are you even doing here anyways?” you asked him as Mitch was still trying to collect himself.

Auston gestured over to his own stall and swiped something off the shelf of it. “Forgot my phone. Zach is coming over to my place for a bit to hang out. You’re both welcome if you would like, as long as you don’t end up fucking on my couch.”

“Auston Matthews, I’m telling your mother that you accuse me of such things.”

“Oh shit.”

\- 

4\. The Limestone City

Watching Port Hope fly past you, Mitch pretty much had his head pressed against the window of your car. Your hand tapped against the steering wheel along with the music idly playing on the radio and every once and a while you would glance at your boyfriend who was nearly half asleep.

August meant being in the off-season and now that you had Mitch with you nearly all the time, you thought that it would be nice for him to come see where you spent a good portion of your life.

You hadn’t been born in Kingston, but when you were selected by the Frontenacs, you and your parents moved there for convenience. Now with you living in Toronto, your parents had just decided to stay in the city of kings which was nice since it was only a few hour drive for them to see you play. 

Just as you predicted, Mitch had fallen asleep while you still had about two hours left of highway to drive. It was familiar to you, especially driving to places like Whitby and Barrie for hockey tournaments when you were a kid, but it felt different in a way. Probably because Mitch was sitting next to you. 

As soon as you saw the sign for Napanee, you reached over and tapped Mitch on the leg. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groggily sat up straight. You were just about to take the exit onto Montreal Street when he finally realized where you were. 

“Is that the apartment right there?” He asked, pointing towards the waterfront. You nodded and took a turn by the former K-Rock, now Leon’s, Centre; your old home ice. “You miss it don’t you?”

“Of course I do. Number 42 will always have a place in my heart, but Toronto is my home now, ya know?” you explained, signaling left into the front part of your parents apartment building. Mitch was already taking off his seatbelt when you parked in one of the visitor spots at the front.

In the next couple minutes the two of you were being buzzed into the apartment, suitcases in hand. You and Mitch were staying for a week to do whatever before you had to go back to Toronto to begin training for the upcoming season. Plus, the last time you saw your parents not over Facetime was before playoffs, as they had busy schedules with work and other things.

After you knocked on the door and your mom opened the door, she immediately hugged Mitch. She had obviously met almost all the boys before during the mother’s weekend, but she had always been fond of Mitch and even took part in making fun of Auston with you, to your delight. 

“Well I guess I’ll just be going back to Toronto now that I know I’m not welcomed here,” you joked and your mom hit you on the shoulder before bringing you in for a hug as well. 

When you walked into the apartment, you caught yourself almost reaching out to hold Mitch’s hand, but you stopped yourself. Your parents didn’t know about the two of you yet either. Both of you were pretty serious when you said that Auston was the only one who officially knew. But your mother was a smart woman, so it wouldn’t surprise you if she ended up questioning you at some point in the next week. 

You already knew it was planned that your extended family would be meeting up at the restaurant Jack Astor’s just up the road from the apartment buildings that evening so you and Mitch settled in pretty quickly. 

It was only a matter of time from when you sat down at your table with a plethora of aunts and uncles that you would be questioned about the very nice young man sitting beside you. Turns out that time was just after you ordered appetizers. 

“So Mitch,” your aunt starts, “you also play hockey?”

“Uh, yeah. Same team as Y/N. We’re on the same line too, so we play together a lot,” he explains to your aunt who nods along with what he’s saying. Dinner all went well with Mitch eating almost his full body weight in a burger and caesar salad to which your family was almost impressed by.

The whole group of you walked the couple blocks it took to get back to your parents building and ended up all sitting around the living room, Blue Jays game playing softly in the background of the conversations.

It was inevitable, you knew that. You had been preparing yourself for this question to be asked to Mitch since you passed Oakville. But somehow you still panicked when your aunt casually mentioned it.

“So Mitch, you’re a good looking young man who plays professional hockey, do you have any lady in your life?”

You turned your attention to your can of beer that you were holding in your hands and began playing with the tab of it, waiting for his response. You felt Mitch shift a little bit beside you and clear his throat.

“Well yeah, I guess. Y/N.”

You froze. He did not just say that.

Your family seemed to agree with your reaction and looked at Mitch with equally confused and shocked faces. Mitch’s mouth turned up into a smile despite the near havok he was almost ensuing.

“Oh my god, no not like that! It’s, uh, she’s my best friend other than Auston and Freddie I mean. Yeah, you’re pretty neat, Y/N,” he explained at an extreme pace, but your family seemed to understand. A huge weight was taken off your chest when conversation somehow changed to how your cousin was in Portugal for vacation or some bullshit your mom saw on Facebook.

But that didn’t mean that you didn’t tease Mitch later on that night when the two of you were about to head to bed.

“I’m neat, Mitchy? How romantic,” you chuckled while throwing on one of his shirts to sleep in. Mitch just groaned and flopped himself down on the bed.

“Don’t bring that up ever again.”

“Too late,” you said, throwing him your phone. You had the text conversation between you and Willy pulled up about how Mitch had called you neat, minus the whole secret dating thing.

Mitch pouted and looked up at you through his lashes. “I hate you.”

You simply shrugged. “Fine. If you hate me then I guess we’re not going to get ice cream and walk down Breakwater Park tomorrow.” You sat down on the bed and leaned your back against the headboard before feeling a pair of arms wrap around your waist.

Looking down you saw Mitch laying his head down on your thighs. “I still think you’re neat.”

You smiled to yourself. “I think you’re neat too, Mitch.”

\- 

+1 All You Need Is Love

Keefe had told the team to show up to practice half an hour early so you ended up waking up at an ungodly hour to get to the rink.

You slugged yourself into the locker room and placed yourself down in your stall, taking the last sip of your coffee you had picked up on your way there. 

Soon enough, the room was filled with the team putting on their equipment with about as much enthusiasm as you had. And that’s not saying much. 

But of course Mitch was in a happy mood because it was Mitch. You rarely ever saw that boy with a straight face. There was something about him today that seemed a bit different though, and you couldn’t place it even though you knew him like the back of your hand. 

Weird.

Keefe walked into the room lot long after you tied up your skates and the room went quiet. 

“I know by the current looks I’m getting, you’re all probably wondering why I told everyone to be here early.”

Everyone groaned and mumbled in response which got a chuckle out of your coach. “Well I’m sure you’ll all be happy with this news. Especially one person in particular.” 

And then he pointed at you. “Y/N. I just got an email from Darren Keily, the GM of the Kingston Frontenacs. They’re retiring number 42.”

Your jaw hung slack for a little bit. It was only your second season in the NHL but they wanted to hang your number in the rafters of the Leon’s Centre. 

You got numerous pats on the back and hair ruffles from your teammates as they cheered for you. 

“The ceremony is in a week, so get ready for that L/N,” Keefe said smiling at you. You returned it and started putting on your shoulder pads. 

With a few more points to cover after your big announcement, you and the boys finally headed out to the ice to get going. Pre-season was creeping up on you all and it was time to get down to business. 

But just as you were walking out of the locker room, you felt Mitch lean into your side. 

“You don’t know how proud I am of you,” he beamed before swivelling his head to make sure no one was watching you two and pecking your lips with his quickly. You laughed a little and pulled him by his jersey sleeve, him following after you like a lost puppy on skates. 

“Come on you big dork.”

-

Your ceremony was halfway over and it still felt unreal. At the young age of 21 you were getting your OHL jersey number retired, merely months after Patrick Kane got his retired in London. And he was practically a hockey legend. 

It almost didn’t feel right. Your parents had already said their parts and same with your old Fronts coach, a couple trainers and some of your house league coaches from when you were a kid. Then Sheldon Keefe came walking out. 

“Now I’m not here to say much because I know someone else really wanted to do this instead of me. He’s pretty important to her and I see that almost every day. Please welcome, Mitchell Marner.”

And there he was, in all of his bouncy glory, your boyfriend standing at the podium at centre ice. And oh my god he was nervous. 

“Please, for the love of god, never call me Mitchell ever again,” Mitch said shaking his head. He was wearing a navy suit and he looked good standing under the lights. “I guess I’ll start off with a little story…

I first found out about Y/N the year I got drafted into the NHL. That was the same year she got picked for the Fronts and I was immediately interested in her. I found myself watching her highlight reels and even considered buying her jersey. Auston sort of deemed her my celebrity crush.” He smiled and received a chorus of chuckled from the area. Mitch looked over to you and beamed even brighter. 

“I watched the draft and almost passed out when I found out I would be playing with her, I think. You can only imagine what I was like when I actually met her and we became friends. 

Every time I saw her interact with a kid, more specifically a little girl, who would look at her like she’s the best hockey player in the world, I got this feeling that I wasn’t sure of at first. But then I saw her fight a guy for me. And then I saw her get a hat trick against the Bruins and I knew I loved her.”

You could hear a few boots and hollers from the seats, most likely from your old teammates in the OHL. But you on the other hand were sitting silently with a smirk on your face. It was Mitch who had wanted to keep your relationship a secret for so long, and now here he was, telling nearly half of Kingston about how whipped he is. 

“And sure I fell in love with her looks and her hockey because damn, but it was also because of her compassion. Her drive. Her character.

For as long as I’ve known her, she’s been an inspiration to the team and others alike. I think we could all learn a thing or two from just sitting down and having a conversation with Y/N L/N every once and a while. 

She’s paved the way for equality for females in professional hockey, being the first to join the league. But now there’s more. Sydney Almeida to the Winnipeg Jets, Eva Mackenzie to the Chicago Blackhawks and Jillian Firth to the Edmonton Oilers. 

And that’s thanks to Y/N. 

Now I know I’ve been rambling for way too long now, but my closing remarks will be simply this: Y/N has shown me to never give up on my dreams, and at least in my eyes she will go down in history as one of the greats. I’m grateful to be able to say that that’s my girlfriend and go celly with her out on the ice.

And now as we raise 42 to the rafters in Kingston, I’d like to eventually be there for when they do the same with 25 in the Scotiabank Area one day.”

You were tearing up a little at the end of Mitch’s speech. Before you met him, you never knew you could love someone so much, yet here you were. 

Mitch turned to you and held out a hand motioning for you to join him at the podium. You got up and immediately brought him into an embrace which earned claps. 

For a small moment, time seemed to stand still, you and Mitch holding each other back where it all started for you. 

Both of you stood close to each other through your acceptance speech and also through the banner raising. Watching the gold and black 42 ascend to the roof, you leaned up and kissed Mitch on the cheek before leaning your head on his shoulder. 

Sure you may not be any prom queen, but this moment was better than anything you could have ever asked for. 

Making history one goal at a time beside the love of your life. 

Well, after you answer all of the group chat messages about how the fuck you two kept your relationship a secret this whole time, of course. 

Because there were priorities in life, and the Hockey Hall of Fame wasn’t exactly one at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @bitchasslowry

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @bitchasslowry


End file.
